Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry has said Pakistan is providing “whatever support is needed” to defend Saudi Arabia amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels against the kingdom.
The military spokesperson’s remarks — made during an interview with Independent Arabia aired on Sunday — come as Saudi Arabia has been facing deadly attacks by Houthis in recent weeks.
Islamabad and Riyadh have signed two defence pacts aimed at collective deterrence, the Strategic Mutual Defence Agreement between the two and the Makkah Joint Defence Alliance that also includes Turkiye.
Responding to a query about the military support Pakistan was providing to the kingdom amid attacks by Houthis, the DG ISPR said Saudi Arabia’s “sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the security, and foremost the security of the Two Holy Mosques, is paramount”.
“It’s non-negotiable; it’s absolute as far as Pakistan is concerned […] So whatever support is needed to do that is being provided and will be provided,” he affirmed, adding that no alliance makes public the specifics and the quantification of the support provided.
Commenting on Pakistan’s reaction to the Houthi attacks against Saudi Arabia, the military spokesman said, “Our reaction in Pakistan, on the streets, from a young boy and girl up to our political and military leadership, is one of anger.”
He remarked, “Our reaction is that why would anyone in his right mind attack or threaten Saudi Arabia or the holy places or even give an impression of threatening the holy places.”
He declared there could be no “ifs and buts” on the security of the holy sites.
On whether Pakistan’s support to Saudi Arabia will strictly remain defensive if the Houthi attacks continue, the DG ISPR said all three members of the alliance were “absolutely clear […] that this alliance has no offensive intent; it is purely defensive”.
Citing Article 51 of the United Nations Charter that provides collective deterrence, he said such a mechanism “gives a very strong and clear message to those elements of instability, of chaos, in the region that if you directly or indirectly wage this war against any of these three countries, then the response will be collective”.
“If that deterrence doesn’t work, then that deterrence has to be re-established by all means that are available to the three countries,” he added.
Asked whether Islamabad had issued any “warning” to Tehran regarding Houthis as the Saudi deputy foreign minister linked the two, the DG ISPR stressed that Pakistan had been engaging with all parties involved, including Iran, “with the singular intent of restraint and to reduce the temperatures”.
The military spokesperson reiterated that Pakistan’s “all interactions and all conversations with the parties are based on dialling down the escalation”.
Speaking further about the ongoing tensions in the Middle East, Lt Gen Chaudhry noted, “You have seen a sinusoidal sort of pattern in this conflict, that it does down and then the agent of chaos starts and they come into play and take the entity up.”
He contended that such escalations will not “resolve this conflict”.
“Whether you expand it to Houthis, whether you expand it to other places, it doesn’t serve anything. It only serves those who are interested in chaos in the region.”
The DG ISPR added: “But at the same time, […] Pakistan is giving very strong signals that this collective deterrence is at play, has already been actualised and we will take all necessary steps for the security and territorial integrity of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the Haramain Sharifain (The Two Holy Mosques).”
He remarked that the “message is going to everyone, whether he is in front or he is behind” the escalation.
Regarding reports linking the alliance’s formation to the need to deter Iran or Israel, Lt Gen Chaudhry said the pact was not “country-specific” and did not have any “offensive intent”.
However, he added: “It is [formed] to have peace, stability and security in the region. So any actor which threatens that peace, stability and security, it automatically interacts with this collective deterrence mechanism.”
‘We need to stop attacking each other’
Asked about his message to Saudi Arabia and the Muslim world, Lt Gen Chaudhry said Muslims “need to unite”. He emphasised that there was no advantage “to these countries, any country, by vertically or horizontally escalating these conflicts”.
“We need to stop attacking each other,” he maintained, highlighting that Pakistan had been trying to convey the same to all parties since the US-Iran war erupted.
“If we are unable to come to a negotiated outcome and we turn into a military conflict, then this instrument of collective deterrence of the Makkah alliance will definitely come into play, as it is coming into play,” Lt Gen Chaudhry said.
On scepticism raised about the Makkah pact, the DG ISPR remarked that the sceptics were “only those who have a problem with this alliance, so it’s their job to do this criticism”.
“It’s not suddenly out of the blue that they have decided. The relations go way back,” he stressed. He further termed it “phenomenal” how the alliance has evolved “in a very short period of time”.
Regarding the expansion of the alliance, the military spokesperson said the door remains open to other countries that believe in the principle of collective deterrence and share the member states’ goals related to regional security and stability.
Asked about reports of Egypt and Syria’s interest in joining, he stated such decisions rest with the political, strategic, and military leadership of the three countries.
Earlier this month, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye convened an emergency meeting under the Makkah Defence Alliance and agreed to deploy military forces and capabilities rapidly in the kingdom.
While the statement did not specifically name any threat, the development came against the backdrop of Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia.
The Makkah defence pact, signed on Aug 7, aims to strengthen collective deterrence and empower its signatory states to treat an attack against one of them as an attack against all of them.
On Sept 18, the DG ISPR said Pakistan would go to “any extent” to defend Saudi Arabia, adding that Islamabad’s commitment to the kingdom’s security is “unconditional”. At the same time, Pakistan also stresses that the alliance is intended for collective deterrence and is defensive in nature.